


last bud not least

by vityuu (nanahoney)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a Mess, F/M, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Post-Episode: s03 Desperada, Roses, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, late night visits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27859413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanahoney/pseuds/vityuu
Summary: Adrien rolls over onto his stomach. He wants to make her look at him like that again, but she never does, never in those thousand times he’s tried as Chat Noir.He wants to try it again, no miraculous and responsibilities burning between them this time, hanging over them like the crescent moon lit on fire. Wants to see her smile at him again, as if she truly sees him. Most importantly, he wants her to know how much she means to him. Wants her to remember it.He closes his eyes and curls up around his pillow. An idea swirls in his head and restlessly stays there, stroking its claws against his mind and pushing them in, refusing to budge.He just needs to figure out how to do it without raising suspicion.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68
Collections: ML Writer Zine: Once Upon a Season





	last bud not least

**Author's Note:**

> i went through a lot of ideas for this zine (the one i almost went with was a persephone/hades au) before i chose this one because desperada angst just,,, hits different. thank you to everyone who made this zine possible -- the mods, all the other writers and the artists -- and of course everyone who bought it!! you're all amazing <3333 i'm so honoured to have been a part of this amazing zine, you should go through the collection and read everyone else's work because,,, wow!!

When Adrien opens his eyes, he thinks he sees Ladybug there in the silhouette of the inky blue sky and the streetlights blinking back at him like a low-hung moon. He sighs when he blinks a few more times and she’s gone, a whisper in the night that never existed.

Hair falling back against his pillow, he closes his eyes and throws his arm over his face. Plagg’s soft snores tickle his ears. “Another dream,” he murmurs and cracks open an eye. The ceiling stares back down at him. He can’t tear his eyes off the long, shadowy crack he’s mapped during sleepless nights so many times he can draw it by memory. It reminds him of the route Ladybug and he took all those weeks ago, when she graced him with the snake miraculous and his dreams have never been the same ever since. Duck behind the trash can, run a straight line from there to the other side of the square and then  _ zap _ — she was gone like the promise she had whispered to him, assuring him that she’s never going anywhere.

Adrien groans and squeezes his eyes shut. He can’t stop thinking about that day—about her kind smile as she entrusted the miraculous to him, her eyes shining with trust and promise and sincerity that were all for nothing in the end. That Adrien himself betrayed when he failed to right the wrongs in the end. He’s not a planner, never was. That’s why he works so well as Chat Noir. But not Aspik, never again. Never.

The one time that stayed with him the most—besides the very last one that made him give up completely—was her shy smile when he gave her the rose that flushed like her cheeks, silky smooth and perfect, the warm way she looked at him as she took it and softly thanked him. The way she disappeared just seconds after as if the warmth in her expression was merely a fragment of his imagination.

Adrien rolls over onto his stomach. He wants to make her look at him like that again, but she never does, never in those thousand times he’s tried as Chat Noir.

He wants to try it again, no miraculous and responsibilities burning between them this time, hanging over them like the crescent moon lit on fire. Wants to see her smile at him again, as if she truly sees him. Most importantly, he wants her to know how much she means to him. Wants her to remember it.

He closes his eyes and curls up around his pillow. An idea swirls in his head and restlessly stays there, stroking its claws against his mind and pushing them in, refusing to budge.

He just needs to figure out how to do it without raising suspicion.

His lips curl in a smile as he drifts off again, with Plagg pressed up against his hair and the moon outside returning his smile.

***

“You want to give Ladybug a rose?” Nino says, bewildered as he stares at Adrien, who’s turning all shades of pink at once. “But why, dude?”

Adrien shushes him as he looks around to make sure no one’s heard. He then glances at Nino and slumps in his chair, his history homework forgotten. “It’s a bad idea, isn’t it?”

“No, just … odd.” Nino wrinkles his nose as he turns to give Adrien his full attention. “I didn’t know you knew her.”

“I don’t!” Adrien quickly says and shakes his head wildly. He knows Plagg is sniggering somewhere in his bag while nibbling on the cheese he’s left him after lunch. “Just … I feel like she deserves one, y’know? She’s done so much for us already; it’s the least that she deserves.”

There’s a crash somewhere in the distance, like a fair amount of books falling to the ground, but he pays it no mind. He wrings his hands together. “Plus, she’s just...” he continues and smiles down at his lap. “She’s just so amazing, you know? I feel like she deserves to know that.”

When Adrien looks up, Nino is looking at him with an expression Adrien can’t read—eyebrows raised and eyes wide, lips parted as he refuses to blink for even a second.

Adrien squirms and looks back down at his lap. “Yeah, I knew it was stupid.”

Nino blinks and shakes his head. “Dude, are you in love with Ladybug?” he blurts out, voice carrying over the quiet space. He shifts his chair closer.

Adrien feels his face warm and he quickly shakes his head as he looks up at Nino, who’s still giving him the same look.

“Of course not,” he denies, his voice shaking as his heart speeds up. He curses them both. “How can I be in love with her? I don’t even know her!”

There’s another, louder sound somewhere behind him, but it barely registers over the sound of his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He glances over his shoulder for just long enough to see a flash of black and pink before it’s gone and he’s not completely sure that wasn’t a fragment of his own imagination.

Nino is shaking his head when he looks back. “Dude, you so are, don’t deny it,” he says and barks out a laugh. “Shit, how did I never see this before?”

Adrien just flushes a deeper hue of red before slumping his shoulders. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he murmurs as something heavy rolls off his chest. Maybe this isn’t the smartest idea but—but it feels amazing to say it out loud. Adrien could weep.

Nino shakes his head again. “Your secret’s safe with me, promise,” he tells him and mimics locking his lips. 

Adrien weakly smiles back. 

“Okay, back to the rose you want to give her—” “

They never end up doing their history homework, but it’s the lightest Adrien has ever felt upon returning home regardless.

***

Adrien has kept a single red rose in his backpack ever since he’s decided to give it to her. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had a chance encounter with her in that time—or even any encounter for that matter. With the spring air tickling his cheeks until they turn pink, it’s been surprisingly peaceful, no akumas for them to fight.

And he’s happy about it; he really is—but the rose in his backpack is wilting in a flurry of dark tears that weigh down on his backpack as if it’s the single most heavy thing he’s ever owned.

It doesn’t help that Nino elbows him every day he comes to class and makes Adrien sink further in his chair while holding back a smile.

_ I have the best friend in the whole world _ , he thinks one day as he elbows him back. They sink into a discussion about their latest homework as if they don’t share a secret between them. And then he feels Marinette’s stare, his head turning to give her a smile and a wave.

Marinette turns beet red then, shyly waving and smiling back before turning back to Alya. Occasionally he still feels her eyes on him, but he’s so used to it from everyone he tunes it out.

And then, on that very same day, Ladybug lands in front of him when he’s leaving school.

Adrien stumbles back when he sees her. She’s pink-cheeked and beautiful with the pinking sky as her backdrop. His heart stutters in his chest. She’s wringing her hands together until one of them reaches up to tug on her pigtail and she meets his eyes with a confident gaze of her own. Adrien just continues staring.

“Ladybug?” he says, voice shaking. “What are you doing here?”

Ladybug ducks her head. “I’m on patrol,” she says.

Adrien knows it’s a lie—she and Chat Noir patrol together every Tuesday and Friday—but he also knows he can’t call her out on it, so he stays quiet.

“And I saw you so I wanted to come say hi.” She pauses. “Hi.”

Adrien grips at the straps of his backpack. His driver is watching them, wary and impatient, and he knows he doesn’t have much time. His cheeks burn as he coughs into his hand.

“Hi,” he says and smiles at her. “It’s nice to see you. I, uhh …” He pauses, feeling his cheeks burn hotter as he shrugs off his backpack while Ladybug watches with interest, taking a few steps closer to him. He opens it and starts looking through it, feeling slightly sick, his hands shaking with nerves. When his fingers wrap around a smooth stem, he hesitates for a second then pulls it out to offer it to her.

Her eyes are impossibly blue and wide as she looks at him. It makes the whole week of agonizing worth it.

Adrien smiles at her, but it’s shaky and slight. “I just—I wanted to thank you for how hard you work and express my gratitude somehow, even if it’s something as small as this.” He hesitates when she doesn’t reach out to take it. “If this is weird or inappropriate I’m so—”

Ladybug quickly shakes her head and takes it from him—their fingers brush, even if it’s through the material of her suit, and her hand leaves tingles where it touches his. He licks his lips and feels his chest go light with relief.

“I love it,” she says and holds it close to her. “I—thank you. It’s beautiful.”

Adrien gives a shaky sigh as he smiles down at her hands. “I’ve wanted to give it to you for a while now,” he admits and gestures at the petals which have begun to wilt. “But I never saw you, so sorry it’s a bit wilted.”

Ladybug quickly shakes her head. “It’s perfect,” she assures him and steps closer to him. Adrien gulps when she stands right in front of him, smiling up at him with rosy cheeks and soft eyes.

Then his heart stutters when her lips press an even softer kiss against the warm skin of his cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispers in his ear and pulls away to smile at him. Then, as suddenly as she’s appeared, she’s gone.

Adrien stands there, still as a statue until his driver coughs loudly and brings him back to reality.

***

Ladybug’s next visit is unexpected—on a moonlit Wednesday night. Just the day before, he’s seen her cheerful smile and spring in her step on patrol, when she teased him more than usual and seemed to glow so much brighter, if that’s even possible. He didn’t expect to see her as a civilian again, at least not until she’s saving him and there is fire and adrenaline pumping through him like a drug as he’s attempting to get away and come help her.

Alas, Ladybug is full of surprises.

Adrien is humming to himself as he towels his hair, walking across the room in his Ladybug pajamas to join the snoring Plagg, who’s curled up soundly on his pillow. His chest warms as he watches Plagg grumble to himself. Fingers reaching out, he almost brushes his fingertips against his ears.

His heart lurches out of his chest when he hears the knock against his window .

It’s a soft sound, whispering through the night, but in the eerie stillness of his room, he hears it. It echoes through the wide space like a yell, and he quickly turns around, throwing the wet towel over Plagg to hide him. Ladybug’s silhouette sketches itself out outside his window with the slumbering street as her backdrop, streetlights playing in her hair and, a bit dazed, he notices the jittery way she’s holding herself.

Adrien tries in vain to tame his hair, tucking a dripping wet lock behind his ear before he stumbles over to open the window for her.

The cold air assaults him when she’s finally in arm’s reach. It makes him shiver.

“Ladybug?” he says, eyes wide as he hugs his arm close to himself. “What are you”—a gulp — “what are you doing here?”

Ladybug is hiding her hands behind her back, a shadow of a smile on her face. “Sorry, I know it’s late.” She presses her lips together. “May I come in?”

Adrien quickly nods and takes a few steps back to let her come in, closing the window behind her with a soft sound. He tries to smooth down his hair, tugging his pajamas close to himself almost self-consciously. He never thought she’d ever see him in them.

Ladybug turns to him, her hands still hiding behind her back. She looks him up and down, and even though he’s a model and he’s used to people scrutinizing him, he wants to curl in on himself as if he never wants to be seen. A wide smirk sketches over her face when their eyes meet again. But, if he squints in the pale yellow light of his room, he thinks he sees her cheeks turn slightly pinker.

“Nice pajamas,” she teases and raises her eyebrows.

Adrien makes a weak, dying sound.

“Thanks,” he mumbles and tugs on the hem of his shirt. “Nino bought them for me as a joke gift. I have a Chat Noir pair around here somewhere, too.”

“Why don’t you sleep in that one?” she asks, but the corners of her mouth are lifting as if she’s trying not to laugh. It makes his shoulders sag in relief, his own lips starting to do the same.

“Black and green makes me look too dashing.” He pauses and grows flustered again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not that I’m self-absorbed, I just —! ”

Ladybug smothers a giggle in her hand, shaking her head in amusement, and Adrien could weep. For a second he was worried that he had come across as narcissistic and ruined whatever this was. Whatever she was there for.

Whatever reason she has for coming to visit him, Adrien has no way of seeing it, and it itches at the back of his mind. It burns down to his fingertips, making him want to reach out and touch her, ask her what’s on her mind, but his lips can barely move enough to form a weak sound.

“I know you’re not,” she assures and smiles at him, letting her hand drop to her side. Oddly enough, her other hand stays hidden behind her back, and Adrien eyes it, eyebrows drawn. “I like that about you.”

His heart stutters but he tries not to get it to his head. Not to let his hopes up. Instead he just smiles at her, rubbing the back of his neck again.

“Thank you,” he says. “Not that I mind but … what are you doing here?” he asks after a moment’s pause.

Her eyes widen and this time, he’s sure he sees her cheeks flush warm. She offers him a sheepish smile and—and pulls out a rose from behind her back.

A perfect, beautiful, stunning red rose with full petals. Thornless, the stem is cut at a perfect angle and flushed red where it meets the petals.

His heart balloons in his chest, his heartbeat echoing in his ears, and he can’t take his eyes off her even though he can feel his face getting redder by the second. Ladybug plays with one of her pigtails and all he can do is make a soft, choked sound for the second time that night.

“I—” She coughs and averts her eyes. Her fingers are slightly shaking. “I wanted to return the favour. I really liked your rose. And, ummm. It was a sweet gesture. Which I wanted to return. Because it was sweet.”

“Sweet,” he says, voice shaking. He looks down at the rose—so perfect and soft—and then back at her, at her big eyes that stormed, at the freckles standing out under the soft flush of her cheeks. He slowly takes her rose with shaking fingers, giving her hand a squeeze before he plucks it out of her grasp. She gasps and pulls back her hand as if burned.

Adrien smiles softly down at the rose he’s clutching yet holding so tenderly in his grasp. “Thank you, you really didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Ladybug answers and suddenly stands straighter. “I really wanted to.”

Adrien looks at her —really looks at her—and understands what she can’t say.

_ I love you. Thank you. _

He hugs the rose close to himself and lets himself soak in her moonlit gaze for a while longer.

“It’s getting late,” she says softly when the silence that hangs between them dips too heavy, her fingers playing together. Her lips curl in a petal-light smile.

Adrien wants to reach out and touch her. Wants to ask her to stay.

But the cold, dark streets of Paris call for her and he can’t selfishly demand like so. So he only nods and thumbs at the smooth stem in his hand, trying not to collapse in her arms as she raises her yo-yo.

“Good night,” he says, as soft as her, as the smile she shoots him before she disappears into the dead of the night like a whisper of a fantasy that was never there.

Adrien puts the rose in a glass vase and can’t fall asleep for the rest of the night.


End file.
